Pull me under!!! -definitely pulled me under. I couldn't lift my head up since that day, and admire any other rock band. A friend of mine gave his headphones with the I&W album in his "walkman" in '94 and told me "listen to this, it is nothing like you ever heard". I'm still listening:)

Pull Me Under. I was chopping stuff for the salad bar in prep area at Grandma Hoffy's restaurant in Madras, OR circa 1992. I turned up the radio(a little too much and was told to turn it down) and a couple days later bought Images and Words and I was hooked. I still listen to something from that CD almost every day.

Another Day, on Images and Words. I was going through a Jazz phase at the time, and wasn't really into metal yet. My roommate at the time was a die-hard metalhead and was listening to Dream Theater one day while he was cooking dinner and I fell in love with the song, only because the Saxophone solos are jazzy. At the time, I thought Jazz and Metal couldn't mix, and I still don't think they are a good mix most of the time, but that one song is an exception. It is the song that actually spawned my liking for Metal!

Panic Attack was my first (through Rock Band lol). Then my best friend told me to listen to Octavarium (the song) and it blew me away. DT has been my 2nd favorite band ever since then. (Iron Maiden are still my favorite, but just BARELY more than DT.)

It must have been 6:00. I think I was the first person I knew who started listening to Dream Theater. I found a used copy of "Awake" in the secondhand CD store. Shocking album for me at the time. I remember telling my other teenage friends about this band I had discovered that "sounded like Steve Vai, only with vocals." Ha.

"The Root of All Evil" from OCTAVARIUM. Although I had heard of Dream Theater since the early '90's when Alex Lifeson of Rush (and other artists I respect) sang their praises in an interview, I somehow confused them with Dream Academy ("Life in a Northern Town") and never checked them out. In 2006 I got a Progressive Rock magazine that included an article about them and a poll where "METROPOLIS 2" was named best concept album. I went to iTunes and downloaded OCTAVARIUM without ever having heard a note of Dream Theater music and fell in love. Within a couple weeks I had all their albums and they have become my favorite band!

Pull Me Under. Couldn't tell you where it was but I do remember buying the tape at a store called Tape Town in Morganton NC. Ah the good old days of independent record stores. Must have been MTV where I heard it first.

I first heard constant motion on chaos in motion when I was about 7 or 8. Then I heard a nightmare to remember when black clouds came out and thought "wow, this is amazing and completely different stuff. I only became a real follower though last september.

Stargazer. I was seaching the iTunes store for a live version of that Rainbow/RJD's masterpiece and bumped into the DT one. I decided right then that any group that respected Stargazer as much as I did deserved my business and bought the whole special edition without a second thought. Best use of my money ever (even though I had to buy the vinyl edition later on also).

For some reason It's not letting me cast my vote...but the first song I heard was 'The Glass Prison.' This was back in 2005. My friend on Xbox Live asked me what kind of music I liked. I think I said that I liked rock music and some metal. He recommended me to check out Dream Theater. So I searched them up and happened to pick this song. I was absolutely blown away by the musicianship. Went out to Best Buy and bought Awake. Then I had a serious addiction to this band.

It was 2009 I believe and I had just gotten tickets to see Iron Maiden (my favorite band at the time). I saw DT was opening for them and searched them on youtube. The first video that came up was Forsaken. I added it and Pull Me Under to my mp3 player and listened to them frequently. It wasn't until probably 6 months later that I laid on my bed in my dorm room and listened to the masterpiece that is Octavarium from start to finish. I was in absolute awe. Since that point I can barely bring myself to listen to anything other than DT. It is a sad commentary on our societal taste that the greatest band in history, most of us have never even heard of. Perhaps, like many great artists they are ahead of their time and their music, unlike the drivel most of us listen to, will carry on for generations.

The first time I heard Dream Theater I was searching for tunes on emusic. I had recently discovered Iron Maiden and was looking for music by them. While searching on emusic it was suggested that if I like Iron Maiden I may like Dream Theater as well. Oh man, do I ever like Dream Theater. As a matter of fact, Iron Maiden is great but I think DT is way superior. Dream Theater's music is exactly what I have been searching for all my life; I am 57 this year, and I only wish I had discovered them a little sooner.

I was 13 years old and watching MTV. Suddenly "Lie" came on. I really liked the song, but I was so into Metallica at the time that I didn't give them another chance and forgot about them. Fast forward 20 years and I was trying to figure out why I liked Metallica so much. I realized it was because of many of their complex arrangements. I read a comment somewhere that Metallica occasionally used progressive elements in their music. So I looked up progressive metal on Wikipedia and started listening to the bands listed in the article on Youtube and came across "On the Backs of Angels". I quickly figured out that it was done by the same band who had done "Lie". Metallica is now my second favorite band. I just can't believe I missed out all those years.

@hazard_pay, I seem to be one of the fans that greatly enjoy any and all of their work. I think its incredible they can dabble in so many styles and be so great at anything. If I truly had to choose a preference, I lean towards the new stuff, which I consider Scenes and on. Scenes was the breakthrough masterpiece and everything after it feels like a fine tuning an growth in detail and emotion. Train of Thought is the best metal I've ever heard.. Octavarium is true brilliance..systematic chaos was an amazing mix of musical ideas, all perfect.. That's the album i really felt the biggest step in growth. Black clouds is so emotional and powerful, nightmare is unreal.. The count of tuscany is the best song they've ever written. The new album I believe is their best ever, if not tied with Scenes

@hazard_pay: That's tough, it's all so good. I'd say their later music is what I prefer, but Awake, ACOS and FII are great albums prior to SFAM. Looking forward to the new album they started working on in Asia. Maybe they'll sneak a song into the final leg of the Dramatic Tour and the new DVD!